The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1887-01-11
A Duck Farm.

NlNA 81
over the country, and attracted much in
tcrest. James Rankin is the owner of
the enterprise. This year he again gives
his yearly record, and the meter is
worth reading. He says:
"We have got out the present season
some 1000 ducks, chicks and goslings.
Over 1000 ducklings have already gone
to market. We have 1000 of the
choicest reserved for breeding
purposes, 500 of which arc al
ready engaged at prices considerably
above their market value. The maxi
mum prices obtained for ducklings were
~ cents per pound; the minimum, Is
cents; the average, about 81 cents.
Careful estimates and repeated expert
mcnts have convinced us that ducks cG
be put upon the market ut a cost to tho
grower OF not over 5 cents per pound.
AS these ducklings, when carefully fed.
are ready for market when nine or ten
weeks old, it follows that three months
from the time when the machines arc
hlled with eggs the ducklings arc put
upon the market ut Il profit of over 400
per cent. on all investments.
1--WE sell principally to large retail
ing firms, and they AVE told US
repeatedly that our artifcially
grown ducks are the best fattcd
and plumpest birds in the Boston market;
that they will pay us 2 cents per pound
more than they pay for other stock, and
that they will not order elsewhere so long
as we can supply them, so that in order
to sell our ducks we simply have to re-
main ut home and fill all the orders we
can.
1--WE wintered the past season $50
ducks, with the proper complement of
brakes. Those ducks commenced LAYING
January 1, and up to a recent date, have
furnished us with IS, 400 eggs, or a little
more than 1913 eg"s each. Our young
ducks, Matched March Is, commenced
laying August 1, md have been laying
ever since. We arc getting quite a bas-
ket of eggs daily from these young ducks.
OF the 10, 400 eggs above referred to.
some four thousand of them we used for
purposes of incubation, and the rest
were sold at remuncrative prices for
others to hatch. Many Of our orders wo
were quite unable to fill. Many complain
OF losing their ducklings through weak
ness in their legs and inability to stand.
This, we think, is owing to too highly con-
ccntrated food. The natural food of the
duck in its wild state is grass and
fish of all kinds. This can be SUM-
plemented by grain diet composed of
equal parts of good wheat, bran and
corn-mcal, with plenty of vegetables OF
all municipalities, turnips, beets, cab
bagc, etc. We fed one bushcl of cooked !
turnips per day throughout the entire
winters of 1885 and 1886 mixed with
meal, shorts and beef scraps.
Ducks will not thrive on an exc,u.
sivc grain dict. They are grass-feelers, !
requiring a larger quantity of food than !
hens, but are not particular as to quality. !
We grow our young ducks in yards of
about 10 by 100 feet in extent, putting
100 in each yard. It is absolutely nee
essary to %confine them thus, rs they will
only run their flesh off, but will
greedily eat all manner of insects, which !
they do not stop to kill, and too often
pay the penalty with their lives.
eve give wnter regularly, the same as
food, and only sufficient for them to
drink. Shade is essential. It is aston
ishing to see how ducks and apple, pear
plum trees harmonize. The ducks
thrive upon the insects, shade and falling
leaves, and SO enrich the ground that
the trees are loaded with large, fair
fruit. Our ducklings dress upon an av-
eragc of five pounds at nine weeks old,
that we usually grow two and some
times three crops of them on the same
and each season. These yards are
plowcd up and reseeded with grass and
rye in the fall, the crop, of course, dis
injecting the ground, besides furnishing
green food for the ducklings during the
early spring. We feed largely during
the summer on green corn fodder, which
cut up fine. The young birds not
only fattcn on it readily, but seem to
'nJoy it hugely, especially the stock.
We are careful! not to feed more than tho
will cat clean, and if too much is
gather up the rcsidum. Our losses
With ducklings have not averaged more
han one per cent. for the last two years,